Peter Singer's paper entitles "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" offers a powerful ethical statement that for most would be hard to adhere to. He states his opinion from a utilitarian point view, searching for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. He applies this theory to the problem of famine in East Bengal basing his argument one underlying rationale, "it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything morally significant, we morally should do it". Therefore, Singer believes that those living in affluent countries should provide monetary support to those in countries of need. His thesis is stated as "the way people in relatively affluent countries react to a situation like that in Bengal cannot be justified; indeed, the whole way we look at moral issues- our moral conceptual scheme-needs to be altered, and with it, the way of life that has come to be taken for granted in our society" (Singer).In stating his arguments for such aid, he also defends against possible arguments against his belief. He contends that proximity should not play a role in whether or not aid should be given. He argues that that is irrelevant because a person's distance from the problem is itself irrelevant to whether we ought to help him if we can, Singer also defends the rebuttal of "vagueness", which is concerned with what people consider morally significant. He describes both a "strong" and "moderate" approach to his principle. The strong approach contends that one should prevent suffering unless in doing so we would be sacrificing something of a comparable moral significance. The weak approach contends that we should prevent suffering unless sin doing so we sacrifice something morally significant. Singer supports the strong approach, but also proposes that the moderate version allows for some sort of personal change in judgment. Also, within the article Singer uses an example wherein he compares the need of assistance of...

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... Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer
The Elements of Reason #8
1. Use two or three sentences to state the main purpose or argument in this article. In other words, what is the argument the author is making? (This should be a specific argument. We all know that the authors are writing about morality and ethics.)
The main purpose or argument in this article is that Peter Singer believes that richer nations should...

...Environmental Ethics: Singer vs Regan
Environmental ethics is defined: as a part of philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the nonhuman world (Wikipedia). For example, this includes the preservation of plants and an increase of animal rights. Peter Singer and Tom Regan both argue that animals need a greater voice than their own in the debate of ethical treatment. Despite their very...

...﻿Explain the Preference Utilitarianism of Peter Singer
Preference Utilitarianism is based on the idea that a good action is one that maximises the preferences of all involved so that my own want, needs and desires cannot apply to everyone.
Utilitarianism is a teleological or consequentialist approach to ethics, which means that the action’s outcome is looked at. It is the greatest happiness principle. It is the consequences of an action which judge whether it is good or bad....

...taken for granted in our society” (Singer, 1972). His goal here is to persuade people that everyone, including the government, need to help with famine relief, and how we deal with such disasters now is “morally unjustified”. (Singer, 1972)
Singer supports his argument when he brings up the scenario of a child drowning. We would have a duty to save the child to prevent the child from dying. If we were to just watch the child drown it would be...

...In the New York Times Article “ the Singer Solution to World Poverty” the author Peter Singer argues that there is no reason why Americans don’t donate money to the needy when they can afford countless of luxury that are not essential to the preservation of their lives and health. Singer pursue the audience with two different situations trying to motivate the reader to donate money instantly.
The fist situation comes from a Brazilian film, Central...

...Reference.
Taylor, A. (2008). Examined Life: Peter Singer on our obligation to alleviate suffering [video file]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVViICWs4dM
Content.
Peter Singer, discusses applied ethics in regard to poverty and affluence, animal rights and the radical nature of applied ethics. He challenges the viewers on what is moral and ethical behaviour in society as a whole in regards to money and spending, how we treat other beings...

...“The Jazz Singer”
Before watching “The Jazz Singer”, I had no idea of its cultural or historical significance. I learned that it was the first motion picture to have synchronized dialogue and words. It set the precedent for cinematography, live voice recordings, and real-time dialogue. The film was based on a short story written only a few years prior. The story was called “The Day of Atonement” and was authored by Samson Raphaelson. The short story was then...

...Singer, Peter (1946- ), Australian philosopher and bioethicist. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Singer studied at the University of Melbourne and at the University of Oxford, in England. He began his career lecturing ethics at Oxford from 1971 to 1973. He subsequently worked at various universities in North America and Australia. In 1977 he became a professor of philosophy at Monash University, in Melbourne. Singer also became closely associated with...